


This is Kurys

by AgeOfAlejandro



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Mythology - Fandom, Ossetian Mythology
Genre: Afterlife, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mythology - Freeform, Surreal, The Divine Comedy references, imagery porn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-05
Updated: 2012-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-30 15:17:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/333133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgeOfAlejandro/pseuds/AgeOfAlejandro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the afterworld, Severus Snape must make his peace with those he fought in life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Severus Snape laid there for a minute, waiting for some sign he was actually dead, long after the Potter boy had run off. Where was Death and his great scythe? Where were the Valkyries, come to whisk him off to Valhalla? Was an angel coming for him? He didn't think so. But then, he never really expected any afterlife anyway, no matter what others said.

Severus stood up carefully, expecting creaky bones and complaints from forming bruises. But there were none. In fact, he felt much better, physically speaking, than he had in years. Younger, too. He looked down where he had lain and saw his corpse splayed on top of a congealing black star of blood, staring slack jawed toward where Potter had been earlier.

_Oh._

There was a soft growl ahead of him and he looked up sharply; a tail flicked in the deep shadows of the Shack and blue-green eyes glowed in the low light. Severus tried to silently summon his wand from where it lay or its spirit twin. Nothing came flying to his fingers, and he tried again. The wood remained where it was and the great beast in the shadows moved closer. Cursing his bad luck, Severus turned on his heel and fled up the stairs, away from the animal; he had no idea how he was going to fight back but up was _away_.

He raced up the creaking steps, slamming into walls and trying to follow the sharp turns of the hall in the dark. He could hear the grunts and growls and the sound of huge claws digging into the rotting wood. Severus ducked into an open door and hid in the shadows, trying to stifle the heaves of his chest. Deep sniffs penetrated the dusty stillness of the night and another grumbling growl could be heard as a pair of blue-green eyes stared right at him through the door way. A heart beat, and then the thing charged.

Severus bolted toward the huge, open window, praying to whatever gods there might be that he could escape as he took a flying leap off the ledge, three stories up. He seemed to hover for a moment before falling at an alarming speed and with a great _whumph!_ he crashed to earth. Heaving himself off the ground, Severus turned to see his predator; it was a huge cat, bunched up on the window ledge he had just vacated. Fur shone in the starlight, _green_ fur, as it prepared to jump to earth.

He turned and ran as fast as he possibly could towards Hogwarts, racing through spell-crisped grass and dodging defoliated undergrowth. Rookwood was fighting someone and he found himself yelling at them.

"There's a great bloody cat back there! Run!" he screamed. "Before it eats you!"

They didn't seem to hear him and continued firing spells. Severus didn't turn back to warn them again; perhaps they would slow the beast down, he hoped. Better them than me.

There were no screams, no echoes of agony and some part of his brain not clogged with adrenalin thought this was a very bad sign. Moments later, Severus heard a rustling in the grass behind him and a terrifyingly familiar low growl. He poured more speed into his run, pulling from reserves he didn't have.

Up a head, the grounds of Hogwarts loomed and he felt relief pour through him, cool and clean, as he bounded through the remaining wards and tumbled over his own feet into the long grass. The cat stopped at the edge and pawed at them, brilliant white spell plasma rippling around its touch. It was a leopard, he thought.

One bone white claw extended through the ward and pulled straight down; there was a terrible ripping noise that echoed against the hill behind him. Severus stood bolt upright as a long, fatally elegant limb extended through the flap in the wards. Swearing to himself again he raced up the grassy slope towards the castle.

A howl to his left sounded from the battle on the front steps of Hogwarts and a huge red wolf streaked towards him, ghosting through the mortal combatants. Gasping for breath, Severus veered away from the wolf and zigzagged toward the back of the castle. There was a secret drop entrance only he knew of and he hoped it was open; he didn't want to know what happened if it wasn't.

He approached the entry. It wasn't open!

Severus began to panic. This was too much! He had fought, killed, and died tonight, and now he was going to die again! Maybe this was like what the muggles sometimes said Hell was like; repeating the same loop of events forever and ever. Perhaps he was doomed to fight for his life and loose it every night for the rest of eternity.

The two beasts closed in on him, seeming to ignore each other in favor of him. He pressed himself against the wall, not knowing what to do. Two pairs of eerie blue-green eyes glowed in the dark and he could barely pick out which was which in the low light as they raced toward him. As one single coil of muscle, the leopard and the wolf leaped at him. He closed his eyes, waiting for claws and teeth.

Instead, he felt the earth dissolve beneath him and Severus fell head over heels through a dark hole, leaving the beasts behind.

* * *

It was a long fall and eventually he managed to stop tumbling, keeping his feet pointed down, wherever down was going. The light of the stars which lit the tunnel made him feel strange and as Severus looked around, he saw the many-colored glitter of distant galaxies stretching out into infinity. He looked up and far above his head to see what he thought was rock and soil. Below, and rapidly approaching, was a brilliantly blue circle. Whatever it was, he hoped like hell it didn't hurt. Severus curled his legs to his chest instinctively, desiring not to break them if he could help it, and prepared for impact.

It was not what he expected (but then, he thought, is anything?). The blue circle was soft and gave under him; the stuff closed around him as he descended, then stopped and sagged. He dropped out of it into a clear sky and fell a short way, his eyes closed, before being caught fast by something firm and springy.

Severus felt it shift beneath him and when he opened his eyes, it was to the sounds of _life_. Birds chirped somewhere and a gentle breeze carried the scent of wet earth to him. He was sitting in a wingback chair in the middle of a huge strawberry field, the red berries and white blossoms smiling at him shyly from under green leaves. The sun was shining in a brilliantly blue sky, where clouds romped and a single sparrow spun and weaved through the air.

There was the familiar sound of a porcelain tea cup being set upon a saucer and he looked toward the noise, discovering a very young looking Sirius Black sitting across a small table from him.

Instantly, any wonder he had felt evaporated.

"Hmm," Black mused. "This is going to be _awk_ ward." Without looking at Severus, he reached for a strange teapot; it was banded black and white with huge blotches of metallic red and gold paint covering the vaguely Dr. Seuss-like body. After pouring himself some from one of the four spouts, he asked, "Tea?"

When Severus remained silent, Black shrugged and poured him a cup anyway.

Sitting back in his chair, Black sipped his tea and watched Severus like a cat for a long moment. "I suppose you think you've gone to hell because I'm here, am I right?" he asked finally, a tinge of amusement in his voice.

"No," Severus replied coldly. "I expected to see you of all people at heaven's gate."

Black chuckled and stared into his white tea cup, idly sloshing the liquid around. "Well, you haven't gone to either place. This is Kurys, the lands of the dead." He looked up and gestured at the sea of strawberries that reached for the horizons around them. "Welcome."

Severus' lip curled. "Why you are the welcoming party I am forced to suffer through?"

The other man put down his cup and shook his head. "There's a system here; Merlin knows why it's like this but Kurys has a mind of its own and we're all subject to its whims. Anyway," Black went on, "I am your first escort, the one who will guide you through the process of making peace with your enemies because I am the one Kurys thinks you'll be able to make peace with the most easily. Once you've gotten through all of your foes you're not actually related to, I'll hand you off to a relative in a similar position."

"Kurys must have a strange idea of 'easy' mustn't it?" Severus asked chilly.

"I think it has something to do with the fact that it knows we can't stand each other," Black answered, an eyebrow raised. "It hopes we can come to a truce; I want to get rid of you as soon as possible and I don't think you want to hang about with me for eternity, either." He reached for his tea cup and took a sip.

Severus opened his mouth to reply and shut it with an audible click. "Did you notice," he asked faintly, "that your tea cup is covered in fur?

Black looked down at it for a moment in the sunshine. "So it is," he shrugged and took a sip anyway.

Severus stared at him.

"What?" asked Black after a moment.

"You just drank out of a fur covered cup."

"Yes," Black agreed. "I did. Can we get on with this? I'd like to get you out from under my feet as soon as possible, honestly, and I'm sure you'd like to be rid of me, too."

Severus stared at him again and dropped his forehead into an open palm. "What do we need to do to get rid of each other?" he asked, looking up at Black through his hair.

"Generally admit we were berks, I think." Black's cup was mercifully fur-free, though it was now an unpleasant shade of orange.

"'We'?" asked Severus. "You were the problem, Black, not me."

"Au contraire," disagreed Black. "I was awful, yes, but you were pretty bad too, and even worse when we grew up. As I recall, we took in Peter because you were picking on him. And when– "

"Don't you dare blame me for Pettigrew!" Severus snarled vehemently.

He felt his anger rise when Black simply smiled at him the way one smiles at an angry, foot stamping child. "I'm not blaming you; what Peter did, he did of his own cowardly choice. You and I were both part of why he became what he was, but he certainly didn't have to betray us, did he?" Black asked, almost rhetorically.

Severus' eyes narrowed. "You were still the problem!"

"Half of it," said Black vaguely, staring into his cup. "Or rather, we were half of it. You and yours were the other. You'll see James later, and oooh that'll be a show, but I've already made my peace with D'arcy and the other dead. It's you and I who are sitting here under this blue sky, in this eternity of spring." He looked up. "Just us."

They stared at each other for a while, Severus growing more and more infuriated by Black's knowing, amused little smile. When Black inevitably got bored, he got up and started to wander around their general vicinity, picking berries.

"Want some?" he asked Severus over his shoulder. He rubbed the dirt off one and popped it in his mouth, "They're – mmm – amazing." Black looked contentedly off into the sky as he enjoyed the berry.

When Severus gave no reply, Black picked several more and used his white shirt as a basket to bring them to the table, where he carefully off loaded them. He shook the fabric and the stains fell away like powder.

When Black sat back down, he spoke of their school days between strawberries, and then later of when Severus had outed Lupin.

"That, you know, could have ended in his death," he said conversationally. "And then there was the way you treated non-Slytherin children. And I mean in general, not just Harry..."

Black continued to ramble, talking about how both of them had behaved rather badly through significant portions of their short lives. Severus soon figured out that there was no way to shout Black down and when he had tried to leave, he couldn't get out of earshot, so he gave up and flopped over in a chair.

There was a sudden, long silence which brought Severus out of the stupor of Black's lecture and he found the man watching him patiently.

"What?"

"Haven't you got something to say? I daresay I had thought you'd have some sort of horribly long rant about my behavior over the years. Merlin knows I gave you enough material," commented Black, fiddling with his half empty cup again (which was now a gaudy king's goblet).

"So you really," Severus asked as he sat up straight in his chair, "truly, admit you were a horrible bastard when you were alive?" This is too good to be real.

"To you," replied the other man evenly. "And to others on occasion, even when I loved them." There was a pause. "Do you admit that you were at fault as well?"

"Details," he demanded, ignoring Black's questions.

And Black gave them to him.

"Now," he said after what felt like hours to Severus, "do you admit fault?"

Apparently Severus' grudging silence was enough for Kurys, because an edge of the strawberry field appeared within walking distance. Beyond that, a grove of citrus trees stood.

Black clambered out of his chair without looking back for Severus and strolled through the rows, hands idly stuck in his pockets as they walked in the sun.

He looked over at him, eying his black woolen robes. "Might want to alter your clothing. It's going to be unpleasant otherwise. Unless you're one of those people who never get hot, now matter what."

"I left my wand," Severus pointed upwards, "back there."

"Yes, well, it would have been useless anyway," said Black absently. "Everyone here can use a limited form of magic. You just sort of wish for something to happen and as long as you aren't wishing for the Taj Mahal you generally get what you want."

"Everyone?" asked Severus, now deciding if he wanted to keep wearing wool or not.

"Yep. Anyone with an imagination can do it." Black waved at someone on a distant hill, calling to them. "Sigmund! You must come by for tea with Carl! And Lily says hi!"

The figure waved and called back, though his reply was caught in the breeze.

"Oh," Black said, leading them into the sunny grove. "And you might want to relax your death grip on logic, Snape. This place follows it only when it pleases, and you seem like the type who might go mad if you don't."

"What do you mean, 'only when it pleases'?" demanded Severus as they walked next to one row of trees.

A passing breeze shook several fruits from their branches; one of them broke like an egg on Severus's shoulder and a tiny, wet chick slid wetly off his sleeve to fall on the leafy earth. Black had managed to catch one and when he opened his hand, a humming bird the colors of autumn rose out of his fingers. It landed on the man's thumb and he turned around to face Severus.

"Do trees normally hatch humming birds out of tangerines?" Black asked pointedly, gesturing with the tiny saffron bird for emphasis, who blinked at him with glittering black eyes. "I mean, I'm pretty sure they don't but I could be wrong." His eyes flicked to Severus's shoulder. "And you really might want to do something about your robe. The yolks stink like you wouldn't believe!"

"How did you say you do it again?" Severus asked him, loathe to request help from Sirius Black of all people.

"Wish for it," he explained. "Picture what you want; how it should feel, look, smell, etcetera. And then wish for it."

Frowning, Severus tried it and found himself wearing a crisp black linen shirt instead of a yolky over robe.

Black encouraged the little bird to fly off and conjured a pair of muggle sunglasses, strolling off again as they passed a tall, blue, muggle windmill, which turned lazily in the wind.

The two men walked for some time, crossing small, verdant valleys, populated by Technicolor sheep and miniature castles complete with gothic spires, and climbing hills where locals argued in what Severus though might be Basque while goats and children milled about on rocky outcroppings. Walking through another hummingbird grove and a cherry orchard, they came upon what was an achingly familiar house for Severus.

It was a red and grey Tudor style cottage with a wall that swooped off the slanting roof like a bird's wing to curl around the walkway. Potted plants lined the wall and the populated the sides of the paving stones while fruited vines crawled up the rough stone. Diamond paned windows were lit by merry golden candle light and the oaken front door was open.

James Potter was tinkering with what looked like Black's old motorbike in the yard and he hailed Black as they approached. He paused when he saw Severus walking with him and commented acidly, "What did you drag this home for, Padfoot?"

"He," Black explained, "was the person I was supposed to escort. We're done, thank Merlin, but that leaves you and Lily and a few others before I can leave him with his next guide."

"Ah," Potter nodded. "Didn't know Snivellus had bitten the dust already." He threw Severus a look. "I thank you for protecting my son and working for the Order. But I still hate you."

"Keep your gratitude and I return the feeling," came Severus's snide reply.

Black rolled his eyes. "I'll let you two duke this out here. I'm going to go inside, if you have no objections James."

"Of course not," came Potter's reply as he eyed Severus. "Warn Lily, though."

"Naturally," came Black's reply as he sauntered to the door. He paused, "Any word on Harry?" He looked worried and chewed the inside of his lip.

"Nothing especially bad, so far as I know. Lily got tired of me wearing a hole in the floor and chased me out here. Said she'd tell me if anything horrific happened," Potter told him, still eying Severus with an angry expression. "Shut the door behind you, please."

"As you wish." The door shut behind Black with a soft click.

The two men watched each other in total silence, glaring.

Severus spoke first. "You are and always have been, alive or dead, the bane of my existence. There's something horribly contagious about being related to you, you know." He paused and gave Potter a parody of a smile. "Your son never knew you and yet he was just like you in every way. Arrogant, useless, expecting others to do his work for him, and–"

He never had a chance to finish the sentence. He found himself frozen, as though someone had hit him with a Petrificus hex. Potter circled him now, a cold, hard expression on his face that Severus had never seen in life.

His voice could have frozen boiling water. "Do you have any idea what my son's life was like? I don't think you do, or you'd know that you are terribly wrong. Harry never had a chance to be a boy! Cast into the mold of an icon at fifteen months, left in a house that was never a home, and dropped straight into situations that put his life at risk from first year on. Don't give me that _line_ that he wanted it like that. Sometimes he barreled into it head first, yes, but I am certain he never wanted it." The binding was released and Potter stopped in front of him.

"I know how this works, Snape. I yell at you, you yell at me, and we come to some sort of treaty." He stepped back. "And then we are free. My son, however, is off limits for discussion."

"Fine." Severus surged forward. "I have more than enough complaints about you."

That old cocky, lazy grin that said _hello worm_ crossed Potter's face. "Do tell."

Severus would never have any idea how long his blow out with Potter took since the sun didn't seem to move during it, but afterward Lily appeared at the door and called for Potter.

"James dear," she said. "I get the impression Kurys is expecting us to do something soon. Sirius will be coming too."

Potter paused, utterly ignoring Severus for a moment as he seemed to be checking for something. "Right you are, Lily my love. Coming!"

Lily and Black stepped out and after Potter waved an absent hand, the three of them disappeared.

Severus turned around and promptly walked away from the cottage, hurrying back the way he and Black had come. And, as in the strawberry field when he tried to escape Black's droning lecture, the ground didn't seem to move. He kept walking, but he got no further than the edge of the cherry orchard.

Eventually, he gave up and stayed in the orchard, deciding to experiment with this new magic. It was deceptively simple at first but grew progressively more difficult as he tried to make more complicated things.

After a certain point, he felt he had done everything he really had the energy to do at the moment and he chose to study the orchard instead.

The fruit were very odd looking; as brightly colored as a maraschino cherry and somewhat transparent. There were blooms right alongside the fully matured cherries and the air was heavy with the scent of them. He wanted to pick one to study it but was half afraid some sort of gooey insect would ooze its way out of it if he did.

Sometime later, he heard footsteps and Black appeared at the edge of his vision.

"Tried to get away, hm?" the man asked with amusement. "I don't blame you, really. I tried the very same thing the first opportunity I had to escape." When Severus said nothing, he gestured him back toward the cottage. "You still have to get through Lily, you know. And then whoever else has recently died. I think Lily's going to be your worst, though," Black said as he turned.

Severus felt very sad as he followed Black back through the trees. Lily should never have had the opportunity to hate him and while he still loved her. Two words from him had caused her to turn away and she had walked another path, one that lead away from him.

And now, he would have to face her.

As they approached the cottage, he saw Potter talking to Lily, two huge baskets at their feet. They looked up as Black and Severus approached.

"We're going to go pick hummingbirds, Padfoot," Potter told Black as they met at the front of the walk, hoisting one wicker basket against his hip. "Let these two have a row in private," he said, looking at Severus and Lily.

Black nodded and grabbed the other one before they headed to the leafy green grove.

Severus turned to Lily, feeling defenseless and vulnerable as she gave him a wintry glare. Without saying a word, she turned abruptly on her heel and strode toward the yard. When he didn't move, she turned to stare at him. Which meant _follow me_ in Lily speak.

When she stopped again, they were standing on the other side of the house, on the edge of a glass and silver wood. The light echoing off the silver veins of the leaves lent her pale skin a cold cast, making her expression even colder and unapproachable. The leaves tinkled in the gusty breeze and silence as they stared at each other.

"I'm sorry," Severus's voice cracked when he finally spoke. "So sorry."

"For what?" she bit out. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't stop until he was on his knees. It probably wouldn't take much either and they both knew it.

"For telling the Dark Lord the–"

"Pawn," she cut him off. "You were a pawn and didn't know. Move on."

"F–for the way I treated Potter."

"Which one?"

"Your son, Lily. I was," Severus paused, "horrible to him. But I kept seeing your eyes in Potter's face!"

"And?"

"He was the reminder of what I lost," he said quietly.

"What you never had, Snape," she said icily, tucking flame red hair behind an ear. "We were friends and never more. And then," Lily's smile was bitter and angry, "you called me a "mudblood" at which point, we were–"

"I know!" Severus cut her off loudly. "I know I lost you entirely that day, Lily! There are no two words I regret speaking more."

"Not even 'avadra kevadra' to Albus?" she asked sardonically, her arms crossed over her chest.

"That was not my choice, Lily! I doubt that I ever would have been a position to have had to say them if I hadn't said those words to you!"

"Oh yes?" she growled, "Your entire fate hung on those two words spoken to your teenaged crush?"

"More than teenaged," he murmured almost inaudibly, staring at the ground for a moment. "But yes. I think, had I not said that, I might have walked a different path."

"Ah," Lily said. "But you did say them and then you continued to say stupid things, particularly to my son." She raised an eyebrow, "I would have thought that if I ever meant anything to you, his eyes would have made you stop. He's _my_ son; if you loved me so much, those eyes should have been the reason you didn't pick on him."

"I did not pick on him!" Severus was outraged. _Picking_ on other people was what children did and he was not a child.

"What did you do then, hm?" she asked him coolly, "I would call what you did picking on him. He was a little boy and yet you treated him the way I would have expected to you to treat James if you were eleven again."

"I..."

She stopped him before he could go on. "Don't dig yourself a hole you can't climb out of, Snape." Lily's expression was like the winter wind, "Get out of my yard. I will have no bullies here."

Some part of Severus's mind wanted to scream at her that Potter and Black were both bullies but the rest of his brain was too much in shock. He hadn't expected their discussion to be roses and light but he hadn't expected it to be like this either. This was not the Lily he had know; she was more forgiving than this woman.

After she strode away, Black, covered in a rainbow of hummingbirds, pointed to the gate. "She said out. I think I'm going to have dinner here and then we'll kip someplace for the night. You will have to fend for yourself."

Severus nodded dumbly and flopped down on the ground just outside the gate as a flood of brilliantly colored humming birds flew off over his head.

The sun began to move rapidly and it was sunset before Black reappeared. He nudged Severus with boot and when he looked up, Black gestured to the woods before changing into the black dog Severus had been familiar with in life. When he stood up, Black sauntered into the woods, Severus close behind.

They walked through the dusky forest, cast in the pastels of a summer sunset as the dying light shone through the glass trees and bounced off the silver pine needles and leafy veins. They chimed as the man and dog walked through the underbrush. The moon was rising in the sky when the two came across a clearing. With a shimmer, Black was a man again and he stretched lazily.

"I think here's good for the night," Black said as he looked around the glen. "Very good. Nice soft grass, shelter from the wind, and a nightlight!" he pointed to the moon with a bright laugh. "No monsters, though, so I don't expect anyone will need one." He shrugged and without any further discussion, he shifted back into a dog, settled down with a _wuff_ , and closed his eyes.

"A tent, Black?" Severus asked pointedly. "Or am I supposed to sleep on the ground."

Black peeled open an eye and shrugged at him again before settling down again.

"You are the most unhelpful cur," Severus muttered before attempting to picture a suitable tent to sleep in. After a few tries (once he forgot the inside, the next he forgot a door) he had created an acceptable place in which to sleep and he bedded down for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kurys is the Ossetian land of the dead. Bellatrix explains some of the mythology surrounding it in the second chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

When Severus rose the next day, he found Black, still a dog, lounging lazily in the crisp white sun shine. A slight breeze shook the glass leaves and pine needles and the light magnified by them danced over Black's dark fur. He shifted back into a human and lounged in the little hole he had dug as a canine, turning over to stare idly at his companion.

"Ready to go?" he asked, extending an arm above his head to properly study his hand. He flexed long fingers and willed the dirt under his nails away.

"Breakfast?" Severus asked pointedly.

"Will yourself something to eat. Or, will yourself not to be hungry," was his answer. A flat disc of water appeared above Black's face and he waved his hand before the silvery surface, now looking a little worried.

"What's that?" Severus asked, curious despite himself. "Are you scrying?"

"Mhm," Black nodded as the water rippled. "This is how we keep track of the living. I'm checking up on Harry. I want to make sure he isn't dead." The man's face relaxed. "Thank Merlin."

"He's alive?" When Black nodded, he went along. "Can we assume Voldemort is dead?" There was hope in his voice.

"Considering the weary smiles on several faces I saw around him, yes," Black nodded as he waved at the water again. His expression tightened with grief and he looked away from the disc. It disappeared with a wet pop and he got up, staring at the ground. "Let's go," he said quietly before striding into the brush.

"What?" Severus called after him as he hurried to catch up. "Someone must have died; who was it?"

Black shook his head, looking as if he was fighting tears. "You wouldn't care and I imagine we'll meet up soon enough." He threw Severus a savage look through welling eyes, attempting to blink the tears. He sped up as he lead them through the vividly green bushes.

The sun stayed high above them, despite the fact they had been walking for what felt like hours. Eventually they passed through the edge of the forest and were greeted by a gently rolling gold and silver plain. Though Black no longer looked like he was about to cry, his about face was abrupt and his expression spoke of glaciers and stone. "Can you ride?" he asked as a whiny echoed behind him.

"No," Severus said, craning his neck over the taller man's shoulder to locate the sound.

"Then you'll learn the hard way." Black's voice was as hard as he eyes. He turned around and gave a sharp, piercing whistle and a small herd of horses cantered over the hilltop.

The creature leading the herd came to a stop before Black and riding tack appeared at his feet. With a wave of his hand, a poof of dust erupted from its hide and he moved to throw a red blanket over its back, then the saddle and a silver bridle was put on the creature,

He turned and stared at Severus after he had finished. "Well?"

"I have no idea how to do that," Severus said coolly, "I thought that would be evident after I told you I can't ride."

"Hmm," Black said snidely. "I thought you would have figured out the basics, even if you weren't sure how to put the bridle on. That I would have forgiven you."

Severus admitted to himself that perhaps Black had a point as the man sighed and picked out a horse for him. It was a deep chestnut, and a mare he thought after doing a quick inspection. Another puff of dirt and dust and Black gestured for him to get close enough to watch. "You need a blanket so you don't give her sores. Conjure one. Thick one, please, or she'll bite you the first chance she gets."

After a moment of thought, a large black blanket appeared at Severus's feet, which Black picked up and folded in half before throwing over the mare's back.

He looked over his shoulder at Severus as he said, "And I imagine you have no idea what a proper saddle looks, much less a bridle, like so I'll help you out there." He picked up the red and gold saddle off the ground and put it on with a smirk. He elbowed the horse in the side as he cinched the belt and then scooped up the bridle to put it on, stopping for a moment to murmur in the mare's flicking ear.

Severus narrowed his eyes at Black. "What did you tell her?"

"That you had no idea what you're doing," Black told him with a raised eyebrow. "For her sake, rather than yours. A warning; if you are not absolutely sweet and kind to them, they will make you miserable. They're far smarter than any horse you would have met on Earth."

Black moved back to his horse, walking around it with a hand on it's hide, and swung up in the saddle in one graceful movement. "Mount on the left side," he instructed. "Sit like this and hold the reins like this," He demonstrated. "Unless you insist on riding western." His voice dripped with disdain.

"That means absolutely nothing to me," Severus said as he struggled into the saddle.

"That's when you sit like a sack of potatoes in the saddle and make up how you hold the reins," Black explained, a slight sneer on his lips.

"No," Severus said. "You know how to ride a horse; I don't, so I'll take your advice."

Black grunted before he added, "I'll start us off at a walk, and then we'll move to a canter. I will show you what that means before we move to it." With a tap of his stirrups against the horse's side, he moved off.

They walked for a ways as Severus got used to it always walking behind Black so as to observe his motions. When Black tugged gently on the reins, Severus imitated him. He looked at him at him how to get a horse to canter ("Three taps and only three taps. Two will put you in a trot and four at a gallop."), and gave a warning against pulling too hard on a horse's mouth.

When they moved on again, they didn't stop and Severus had no idea how long they continued like this. Eventually, two black dots appeared in the distance, expanding into a disheveled, young Bella and a man Severus didn't know.

"Why hello cousin," Black drawled, mockery in his voice as they halted.

"I thought I dealt with family later," Bella spat, staring at him venomously from where she stood.

"Oh, indeed," Black said. "And I look forward to our row. In the mean time," he gestured behind him as he rode off, "you get to have a chat with Snape."

Bella's eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on him. " _Traitor,"_ she hissed. "Pathetic, lying _half-blood!_ I will kill you!" she shrieked as she lunged at Severus. His horse whinnied loudly and shied away.

"Already dead," he replied coldly as he attempted to maintain his seating. "So are you, idiot."

"Idiot, am I?" Bella advanced on him. "I disagree. I was not the one who crossed our lord. I hope to be there to see him when—"

"Oh," he interrupted as he steered his horse away from her. "So you admit he's not immortal, then?"

She stopped and looked guiltily confused. "Of course he's immortal!" she said immediately. Then her eyes narrowed. "Dreamers come here, too. And he shall seek you out, traitor."

"I admit I am a traitor," Severus said chilly. "Stay still for a moment you wretched cretin, so I can get off my horse and we can properly talk. Otherwise," he informed her when she paused, "I think she might get irritated enough to kick you and that won't do."

Bella stood stock still, allowing him to get off. As he clambered down, hoping it would work he hissed at the horse, "Go find Black. Stay there until this is over, please."

She nickered at him and trotted off. He had made sure to move a far way away from the woman and as she stalked toward him, he conjured a steel pipe, holding in a striking position. He was certain she knew something about swords (and he didn't) and would likely have no idea what to do with a pipe being swung at her.

Bella's eyes widened for a minute and she stopped. "How did you do that?" she breathed.

"Like I'm going to tell you," he sneered, taking the offensive and swinging the pipe at her.

Bella had been just as well versed in dueling in life as he had, but here he had the advantage of a weapon. She ducked and dodged well enough until he caught her upper arm and an echo of cracking bone sounded against the hill sides.

Bella hissed in pain as she danced away from him, clutching her arm. "Bastard," she snarled. "Bastard!"

Severus sneered at her, still swinging. With a thought, the pipe became a sword. Her eyes widened again as he growled at her, "You can't die again but you _can_ be injured."

"You'll get tired," she told him loudly. Severus suspected she was trying to convince herself of that.

With a grunt and a sweeping backstroke, Severus sheered off the broken arm; there was no blood but her cry of agony more than made up for it. As she collapsed to her knees, he sneered at her again. "Are we done? I can keep going but I'd rather be rid of you."

"Fuck you!" Bella retorted, her teeth gritted in pain. "I will not rest until my master is avenged!"

Another stroke almost cut her in half diagonally, forcing her to her knees. "Have you ever wondered why?" he asked her, cold crackling in his words after her scream had died away. "Why would I betray a man who promised me power and a place?"

Bella was silent, her eyes blazing.

"Because," he told her, lowering his sword somewhat, "He was a liar, Bella. He used us. Did you ever notice he never gave us what he promised?"

"He was waiting for the day we won!" she snapped. "As soon as we were secure in our victory, we would have been rewarded!"

Severus shook his head. "Victory was almost assured so very recently and yet we got nothing. Not even an inkling of his promises. It was fool's gold, Bella. Nothing more. He would have betrayed us in a heat beat."

He cocked his head at her, a new idea blossoming in his mind. "Did you ever wonder why fate itself arranged for his defeat?" Severus idly watched Bella's face reddening with rage. "Clearly _something_ was wrong if an immense, impersonal power noticed what was happening and decided it didn't like it. I am certain that destiny isn't a passive force, occasionally telling us the future. Perhaps the Greeks had it right, with the Fates."

With an impressive display of strength, Bella lunged to her feet and tackled him to the ground, mercilessly biting everything she could reach and latching onto his shoulder. Instinctively, Severus fought back, trying to push her off of him. With a sound like old wood breaking, Bella's upper body splintered off of her lower along the wound that went from her shoulder to belly and fell to earth. She screamed and grabbed at her lower half, sobbing as she tried to reattach herself to it.

Feeling particularly vicious, Severus took Bella's immobile lower half and pulled it well out of her reach, conjuring a bench to watch her agony.

When her hiccuping sobbing had trailed off to occasional whimpers, he spoke to her again. "Bella," he said with cruel amusement, "would you like your other arm back?"

After much struggling, she managed to reposition herself enough to give him a deadly glare but remained silent.

He asked again. "Would you?"

"What do you think, Snape?" she gritted out.

"Shall I take that as a 'yes'?" Snape said. When she only gave him a stony glare, he willed her remaining arm to be pinned to the ground and found her severed arm. He matched up the sides and willed them to be healed before stepping out of grabbing distance.

Bella swung her arm around experimentally and found that it moved like it should and she hoisted herself up. Lurching, she faced him and glowered coldly. "Let's get this over with."

"As you wish." Snape sat back on his bench and watched her as she managed to find a new place in the tall silvery grass from which to bargain from.

Bella dropped herself heavily and found she had to support herself on one side, owing to the fact she was missing a large portion of her abdomen. "Well?"

"'Well?' what?" Severus asked back.

"What do I have to do to be rid of you?" Severus could have split diamonds on Bella's facial expression.

"Admit that you were insane."

"I was insane," she agreed. "Can you leave now?"

"Not yet. Is there something I need to do for you?" he asked. "Because there's still something to be settled here."

"Give me back my body!" she demanded, pointing at the limp form some feet away from Severus.

"Anything else?" he asked. "Because while I will do that, I am not inclined to do so at the moment."

She nearly hissed at him. "Admit you were a dirty traitor! Admit you caused his downfall!"

"I, Severus Snape, betrayed Tom Riddle," he ignored her yowl of fury, "and that I contributed to his downfall. And I did so with pride," he added spitefully.

Bella's eyes burned with anger. "I hate you!"

"Oh no," Severus said with mock hurt, a hand dramatically placed on his chest, "You wound me so. Whatever shall I do?"

"Do you want to keep going, Snape?" she demanded. "Because I want my legs back and I want to get rid of you."

Severus shrugged. "I hate you, too, you wretched inbred."

"I am not inbred!"

"Oh, yes you are," Severus told her. "Have you ever looked at the tapestry at Grimmauld? You haven't got a family tree so much as a bush."

Bella glared at him. "I'd rather be inbred than a filthy half-blood," she spat.

Severus shrugged again, not interested in pursuing that line of questioning. "Yes, my mother was a pureblood witch and my father a filthy muggle," Severus said, as if he were repeating something he knew by rrote. "There's no point to the blood debate."

"Blood always matters!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Not really. Who were the powerhouses of our age? Dumbledore and Voldemort. Both half-bloods. Each was stronger than three of you inbred purebloods combined. And besides," he added, "blood doesn't matter here. You're dead and apparently have none anyway," Severus commented, eying the dry shreds of muscle and skin on the edges of Bella's wounds. He turned his attention to her again. "I hate you, you hate me, are we done yet? We're never going to see eye to eye, Bella. Let's make peace so we can go our separate ways."

"Fine," she told him coldly. "I, Bellatrix Lestrange neé Black, do here accept a peace with Severus Snape."

Severus wasn't sure what to make of that. "I accept peace with you."

They both felt something release and Severus felt lighter. "I will send your guide back here when I find him," he said curtly.

"Her," she corrected, her voice distant as she attempted to move closer to her other half. "Ramon is a woman."

"I see," said Severus as he turned to look for Black. "Thank you for the correction."

And there he was, talking to Ramon as they and the horses lounged around a small fire on a nearby hilltop.

"Black!" he called, moving toward them, "we're done!"

Black waved back in acknowledgment and gathered up their horses. Severus had almost reached the hilltop by the time Black had organized the horses. Ramon, Bella's guide, was still comfortably lounged against a rock in front of the fire.

"Ramon, correct?" Severus asked her, taking in the distinctly male attire and very feminine face.

"Indeed," she nodded with a smile on her lips.

"Lestrange is wounded and will require your help to get back on her feet," he told her, realizing the pun after he had said.

"You two must have really hated each other for you to actually wound each other," she commented with a grin, getting to her own feet.

"Mm, well," he said after a moment. "We've made peace, so I don't think it matters now."

"No indeed," Ramon agreed. "Can't go back on peace here." She squinted into the valley and started laughing as she walked down to where Bella was.

Black looked at where Ramon was heading and then looked up and blinked at him. He shook his head and climbed back on his horse, gesturing for Severus to do the same.

They rode toward a distant mountain range, so far away it was a low purple smudge on the horizon. It loomed above them far too fast, with no intervening foothills and Severus frowned.

"Is it supposed to do that?" he yelled to Black over the noise of their horses.

"Supposed to do what?" Black yelled back.

"We got so close, so fast!

"I told you to let go of logic!" Black called.

Soon enough, he halted them and got off the horse. Patting its side, he tapped the various bits of tack it wore and they disappeared.

Standing in front of the horse now, he bowed at the waist and thanked the horse before looking at the still-mounted Severus. "Get off the horse, man," he snapped irritably.

Severus clambered off clumsily, and attempted to make the bridle and saddle disappear like Black did. He succeeded after two tries and the blanket soon followed. Imitating his companion again, he bowed and thanked the creature. As soon as he had, the mare wheeled around and with the roan Black had ridden raced off through the grass.

"Now what?" he asked of Black.

"We go up." Back pointed to the mountains.

Eventually, they found a beaten path that lead up the mountain side. Severus had never seen such mountains as these.

They were enormous, looming in front them and dramatically painted in blue, green, and purple. Snow iced the highest peaks and eagles cried above them, spiraling ever higher. Huge pines and tall oaks shaded the path on which they walked, and brilliantly colored flowers dotted the roadside, waving gently in the cool breeze. Birds sang in the trees and there was a feeling of absolute serenity here. Severus felt everything melt away but this little bubble of existence.

Their little road swung around a mountain side and a huge vista opened—the silver and gold plains they had ridden across, a little village they had missed, and a network of orange canyons weaved off to the left. Black stopped, a little smile on his face as he took in the view, too.

"What is the name of these mountains?" Severus asked him.

"They don't have one," he shrugged without looking at Severus. "Kurys has no edges, no stopping point. It is as big as your imagination can make it; do you feel the need to name things in your imagination?"

Severus has no answer to that because he had never named things in his imagination, even when he had been little and had constructed an entire world in his head.

He turned and stared at the bright orange, layered wall of rock beside the road and willed. A detailed sketch of a knight and a maiden inked itself on the wall and he could not help but smile a little. This was Sir Sigmund and Princess Leona, still as crisp as the day he had thought them up. They began to move, Sigmund lifting his sword high as he pulled Leona to his side as a huge dragon swooped down and tried to eat her. Black ink spilled as Sigmund slashed at the dragon. It was the sort of injury a child would give a villain: a hole and blood. No gory details. Severus sighed at his child naiveté, remembering that it had been shattered a few years later. He still stepped on those shards sometimes.

He turned and saw Black smiling at the picture, too and a king appeared on the far side, along with a detailed castle. The king waved at Sigmund and Leona, opening his mouth in a silent call. Sigmund and Leona heeded it and the three of them disappeared into the castle. Black wordlessly walked away and Severus followed him.

They walked again for some time, in utter silence. This was something new, Severus thought. When Black had been alive, even before Azkaban and Grimmauld, the man had been constant noise and movement. Absent tapping of a toe, the click of popping joints, head bobbing to a silent tune...it had always been a little something that was somehow noise, even if it wasn't sound.

This silence, marked only by Severus's footfalls, was different. Crisp and clear, compared to the woolly silences that had surrounded Black when he walked on Earth.

Severus took the opportunity to observe the world in which he walked and not just the almost overwhelming beauty of it. Time here obviously didn't follow a clock. It was eternity, of course, but none the less there seemed to be movement of time. And after pondering it for sometime, he asked Black about it.

"Time?" he asked, casting Severus a backward glance. "There are at least three senses of time at any given moment for any individual. This is true in life as well, but to a less obvious and much less controllable extent."

"'Controllable'?" Severus asked, indicating he needed an explanation.

"In life," Black explained, "there are three sets of time. There is eternity because time doesn't need a universe to exist."

"Of course time needs a universe," scoffed Severus. "It has to have something to exist in, doesn't it?"

"No," said Black. "The universe—not that Kurys is a material one—is merely a fish in the sea, as it were. There are forces much bigger than it, which, incidentally, create universes. Time exists in universes and in those forces. Anyway," he waved a hand idly, "then there is the passage of time in life. Or being, in our case," he looked at Severus over his shoulder. "This is a time that we exist in, which is much smaller than eternity, really. I've been here, what, two years or so? My uncle Alphard came here first, James and Lily after him, then me, then, well, you. We can't really perceive the absolute boundlessness of time so in a sense, this is a separate time stream but it's also independent of us.

"And lastly, there's the individual time streams. You've noticed how the sun behaves, yes?"

"I have," agreed Severus, interested in where this was going.

"That's because that's what I want it to be. I'm in control here, mostly. When we go our separate ways, you'll fall into your next guide's individual time stream. And then after that, it's all your choice. When you were alive, you noticed how an hour would drag by, right?"

"Of course," Severus said, thinking of hour upon hour of wretched class periods and agonizing meetings with Voldemort that seemed much longer than a night.

"That was your personal sense of time. When you ignored it, it seemed to fly. When you paid attention to it, it crawled past. Here, you can control the length of time in which the sun is up in your time stream. However," Black added. "When you're in the home of another—like we were at James and Lily's, your time stream is subjugated to their's, which in the case of a couple, established by consensus. Just so you know."

"I see what you meant by the lack of logic here," Severus admitted, attempting to digest this oddity.

Eventually, they came a little cottage in a particularly pretty glade.

The design oddly familiar to Severus, something telling him he had once seen this place and been inside; another Tudor house with diamond pane windows with a rambling garden with chickens and geese in the yard.

A cheerful, auburn haired man in sweeping blue robes greeted them at the door. "Hello Sirius. How are you?" He peered over Black's shoulder, "And Severus! What a surprise!"

Severus blinked. "Have we met?" he asked, nonplussed.

"It's Albus," the man explained with a smile. "Though I look considerably younger now, as do you, really." he smiled. "You look about twenty five, you know."

Severus decided to take Albus at his word and nodded, giving the man what passed for his smile.

Another smile from Albus. He gestured them in, saying, "Tea and biscuits await!" He led them through a brightly lit, tiled foyer and into a sitting room. Nearby, a blonde man and a petite young Asian woman watched a television on a couch, their attention rapt by whatever was on.

As they sat down, Albus waved a hand and the show's _"Maury, Maury, Maury!"_ was cut off mid-'Mau.' He gave them a slightly put upon expression. "An American friend of ours introduced, unfortunately, the muggle concept of what he calls 'freak show television' to Gellert and our friend Pa Jao, the young lady on the sofa." He sighed and with a much lighter smile added, "Tea?"

"Yes, please," said Severus.

After he had received his cup and Albus was pouring Black some, he asked, "Why am I here? I don't consider you an enemy by any means, Albus."

"Perhaps not," Albus agreed as Black got up with a quick thanks and wandered over to the couch to watch the television. "But" Albus went on gently, "Even though you already shouted at me the last time you were here, you still have yet to make your peace with me."

Severus blinked at him, wondering if that explained the feeling of deja vú. "I've been here before?"

"Yes, about six months ago," said Albus, sipping his tea. He cast Black a glance. "Sirius did explain the nature of Kurys, right?"

"Not really," Severus told him. "Only that it didn't always follow logic. And I'm not sure I believe what Bellatrix Lestrange told me."

"What did she say?"

"That dreamers come here, too."

"She is correct," said Albus with a nod. "This is the land of the dead mainly, but people come here in dreams sometimes. Sometimes they take good luck back with them, sometimes they take back an illness. Usually the later."

"I see," said Severus, thinking of a day he had been terribly ill within that time frame. But the light had had a stroke of good luck that day, too.

"Shall we talk?" asked Albus carefully. "You'll always be welcome here, but you'll have to finish making peace."

Severus nodded and began to speak.


	3. Chapter 3

Leaving Albus's home, Severus felt better, like one of the gut-deep kinks that had developed over the course of his life had uncoiled a little. He and Black continued through the woods as night fell, patches of perfectly clear sky peeking though the foliage above. Eventually, they exited the wood, standing on the edge of a mesa. To their left, the night sky remained flawless and littered with stars. On their right, a dramatic storm was unfolding, with livid, low-hanging anvil clouds, bruised and angry, and lightening flashed constantly. A gust brought the smell of rain to them as the storm rolled closer.

Black smiled and looked at Severus, daring him to join in whatever hell-bound plan he was cooking up. Severus met his gaze evenly and repressed the urge to step back when Black's grinned widened to frightening proportions as he stepped off the edge of the mesa. Grey wings, stretched out behind him and Black dropped like an earth-bound stone before they snapped out to catch him. The man rose on storm-driven updrafts, wheeling lazily until he was even with Severus.

"Going to join me?" Black yelled over the thunder claps.

"And die?" Severus yelled back. "No!"

Black laughed. "You won't – can't – die! You don't even have to let the lightening hit you!" When Severus didn't move, he rolled his eyes before swooping down to him, almost whispering in his ear; "Coward."

Severus shoved the other man away and growled, absolutely livid at the accusation.

Black met his furious gaze with that giant smile of his, now floating before him. "Chicken!" When his attempts to coax Severus out into the sky failed, he sighed, shrugged and went back to riding drafts.

Severus sat under the protection of a large tree as a rain-soaked and laughing Black sailed through the sky, the increasingly charged air sending shocks up and down his skin. It was almost a relief when a huge bolt struck the tree next to him, the air crackling with electric currents. He was sure his ears were bleeding and it took him a moment to remember that he could stop the ringing and deafness with thought. Black, grinning like a maniac, dropped gracefully next him and shook out his hair before making his wings disappear.

"You missed one hell of a storm, Snape!" Black told him with a cackle, practically bouncing with pent-up energy. "That was amazing!"

Severus would have thought that flapping through uncooperative air would have exhausted Black, but apparently he was not going to be so lucky. He chose to keep that thought to himself as the pair set off again, Black in the lead.

The lightening was behind them now, but there was still rain ahead and it looked as though they were going to be walking right through it. Severus made himself an umbrella, but Black walked in the warm rain without one, leading them down into a canyon. Like the rock above, the walls were a layered orange, darkened to almost an umber color by the rain. Black ran his fingers along the wall and took note of the orange pigment on them with a grin before attacking Severus's umbrella with his hand, leaving brilliant streaks of color on the black fabric.

Severus resented the attack on his umbrella and so he closed and opened it a couple times in Black's direction, showering him with orange paint, much more than had been on his umbrella originally. He expected something more than a hysterically laughing Black in response to his return attack and felt more than a little put out until he noticed his umbrella now had sun flowers on it.

As the sun rose, the canyon emptied out into a broad, flat plain populated by clumps of violet and green grass, dotted with tall spikes of colorful flowers, and several species of animal grazed peacefully. There were wildly colored zebras, silver elephants, and a few types of animals who looked like they were the result of fever dreams and hallucinogens. The rain was beginning to let off as they passed the animals, who seemed to pay them no mind.

Silver ran off the elephants, coloring the grass beneath them, and calves of all kinds gallivanted through the tall vegetation. As they passed, Black patted an elephant and his hand came away covered in silver. The creature turned her great head to look at him and blinked at them with green eyes the color of new grass, chewing all the while.

Black looked apologetic. "Didn't know that would happen," he said, now not sure what to do with his hand. The animal blinked at him again and went back to pulling up grass with her trunk. After a moment's hesitation, they continued to walk passed her, Black wiping his hands on his pants as they went. The elephant took the chance to smack him in the face with her huge ear, knocking him over and covering his face, hair, and chest with silver. Black proceeded to laugh as he got up. With amusement, he shook his finger at her playfully before conjuring a huge sugar cube. A long truck snaked out and took the cube, and it disappeared with a crunch.

Black conjured a kerchief to wipe the silver off of himself as they continued, the raining ending. Soon, they came to the edge of a brilliantly blue river, where crocodiles and hippos lounged in the sun.

"If you go really, really slowly," said Black as he approached the edge of the water, pointing to the crocodiles, "they'll let you by without trying to eat you."

Severus thought he was mad. "Why can't you conjure a boat or something?" He didn't want to know what happened to someone here in Kurys if they died. Or whatever passed for dying here, he amended mentally, thinking of the tussle with Bella.

"Because water is wonderful? Because I happen to need a bath?"

"Can't you imagine yourself clean?" asked Severus, eying the other man as he slowly waded into the water.

"Not the same."

"You," Severus announced, "are completely insane."

Black shrugged. "It's genetic." He grinned as he swam out into the blue water. "Besides," he added over his shoulder, "it's fun!"

Severus watched with astonishment as crocodiles amicably moved to the side for Black until the other man stood on a large, relatively dry sand bar. "Come on!" he called. "Let's get moving!"

Not wanting to try his luck with the gigantic lizards, Severus dithered on the bank for a moment before imagining himself floating over the water towards where his guide stood. He thought of the wind on his face and on his skin through his clothes, the feeling of emptiness at his feet, and the taste of the dry air in his mouth.

And it worked! He glided over the river to Black and dropped onto the sandbar next to him.

The other man grinned at him. "That was good! I'm impressed, I have to admit. Took me ages to get that."

Severus accepted the praise with a nod. "Thank you." He suspected Black's mood to be a hold over from his flight through the storm and wasn't counting on it lasting long.

"I should warn you, though," the man added. "This river's all spread out over about two kilometers, so while we'll still be walking a lot, you may just want to swim sometimes. Apparently, Kurys modeled it after a river in Africa – the Zambezi, according to what I've been told."

Severus sighed. Of course he'd have to cross an African river in the afterlife.

They trekked across the land, taking in the sights as they went – purple hippos dozing on banks men and women fishing, huge fish with frilly fins swimming with sharks (to both men's alarm), and mammals with too many legs taking a drink next to huge, unfamiliar orange lizards. Black conjured himself sunglasses again and Severus made himself a hat as they walked. After a bit, Black apparently decided this was a good idea, too, and made himself one from a banana leaf. It was extremely large and very silly, so Severus decided it was fitting.

As they went on, they crossed a few of what looked like the humming bird trees and Black made a detour to them.

"I'm starving," he announced, picking a few particularly ripe fruits.

"...Don't those have birds in them?" Severus asked as Black reached for one out of his reach. With a grunt and a hop, he snagged it.

"Not this variety," said Black as he settled down on the ground to peel his prizes. "You can tell the difference by the size and skin – see how it's pebbly instead of smooth?" He gestured at the peel with one finger. "These are more like oranges back on earth," he said as he opened it to his satisfaction. He reached up to offer a slice of brightly colored fruit to Severus.

Each section was a different hue, with ruby red and deep green among them. The pith was gold, he noted. "No, I'll get my own," he said as he moved away.

"Naturally," said Black with heavy sarcasm, which Severus ignored.

He created a chair and sat down to eat, rather than sprawling lazily on the ground like Black. The chair began to morph under Severus like Black's tea cup had the day before, much to Black's amusement. The man's cackles echoed, startling a flock of small birds into flight of the surrounding trees.

After conjuring a bag to carry more fruit in and helping themselves, the two men set off again, occasionally nibbling as they went. They crossed more sections of the blue river, one of which Black successfully convinced Severus to swim, as it was free of large and potentially dangerous animals.

Two figures waded through the grass in the distance, and eventually it became clear that it was Peter Pettigrew and a classmate neither Severus nor Black actually remembered the name of.

"Oh hello, Wormtail," Black drawled, the promise of malice and cruelty in his tone.

"S-s-sirius," Wormtail acknowledged, shaking in his boots. The cretin's guide looked like he couldn't wait to be rid of the man, and would look on with pleasure when they thoroughly beat the shit out of him.

Wormtail caught sight of Severus, too, and squeaked, attempting to make a break for it. Black caught him in time to prevent him from trying to hide behind his guide and dragged him front and center.

"I'll move out of your way," the guide told them and removed himself to a suitable distance. Severus watched him conjure a rock to sit on and popcorn.

"Tsk tsk tsk, whatever shall I do with you?" ask Severus before turning to Black. "Who's first?"

"Me," he said, not taking his eyes off Wormtail. "I get first round because I am _owed_ it. But I'll leave plenty for you, if you like. I know he ruined your life, too."

"I would," Severus said, as Black stalked forward and walls of glass extended up from the ground, reaching shoulder height and extending a hundred feet from where they stood. The grass was flattened by Black's anger, leaving Wormtail exposed.

"No worming your way out of this, you little bastard," Black hissed menacingly. Wormtail started to hyperventilate as he closed in.

In short order, Black proceeded to punch Wormtail in the stomach and knee him in the face, breaking his nose from the sound of it. He kicked him over and conjured a bag of oranges.

"No bruising, you see, but hurts like hell," Black explained sweetly and yell at him, punctuating his diatribe with punches and slaps with the oranges, it calling him a traitorous bastard all the while. "And oranges leave Snape there with something to avenge himself on, too," he said as he concluded with a particularly hard slap to the head.

With that, he left the enclosure and motioned Snape in. "Try to leave him conscious because we need him to be able to agree to let this all go, and know one wants to wait on him."

Severus nodded and watched Black walk over to Wormtail's guide to share popcorn with him. He walked through the door Black had created and spun around, forcing the glass to fracture with a thought. He ripped a piece of it off the top and stalked toward the man on the ground. By this point, Wormtail was practically sobbing. Severus willed the shard of glass in his hand to elongate and widen before slicing off each arm with a slam of glass through flesh. Punching followed as Black and the guide cheered, and he contemplated scalping the quivering thing under his hands, but decided against it.

Yanking Pettigrew up by the collar, he hissed, "I am done with you. Are done with me?"

Wormtail whimpered and Severus felt the familiar freeing sensation before dropping him on the ground.

Black stalked back into the enclosure and this time, Wormtail seemed to have a little more fight in him, to Severus's surprise, and yelling ensued. Black threw a few more punches and Wormtail yelled some more, but eventually they seemed to be done as well.

"And now," the guide muttered with a sigh, "I get to pick up the pieces."

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not," said Severus with a mixture of contempt and frost, mostly directed at Wormtail.

The man waved a hand, "I was actually expecting more hacking of limbs."

Both Severus and Black shrugged.

"Wanted to make this quick," Black said easily. "Thanks for the popcorn."

The guide nodded and walked off to see to his charge, kicking through the glass with his heavy boots and showering Wormtail with shards.

"I like him," Black announced. "A man after my own heart."

Severus grunted. "Which way now?"

Black looked around, as if looking for some sign to direct them and seemed to decide after a moment.

"Let's get off the plain and then we can sleep." Black stretched and yawned before they set off again, passing villages, sleepy lions, gnus with three legs, and ants the size of dogs. Both men enjoyed their rainbow oranges as they walked through tall grass and waded through shallow fords in the river.

"Do you ever miss life?" Severus asked Black after a while, wondering what was going on up there without them.

"Oh yeah," Black nodded as he stared at the horizon. "I miss Harry." He glanced at the land beneath their feet. "I'm told desire to go back fades as time goes on, when all your loved ones are here."

That made sense, Severus nodded to himself.

The scenery changed slowly, rolling hills and olive trees replacing tall plain grass and flatness, and eventually they caught the scent of the sea. A wide grin crossed Black's face, joy and excitement flowing through the man. "We're going to camp out on the beach!"

That didn't sound like much fun to Severus, but he supposed he would survive.

Black ran full speed ahead as they approached the beach, where vividly green waves washed in and out and red crabs skittered across the soft wet sand. Black grinned at him as Severus made his way across the white sand dunes. "We need a campfire and tents and ooh, marshmallows, and –"

"Black," Severus interrupted. "How about real food before marshmallows?"

Black pouted. "You can have real food if you want. I want marshmallows."

Severus rolled his eyes. "And fire?"

"Driftwood!" And with that, the other man scooted off to find enough wood for a fire, leaving Severus to his own devices for the time being. After wondering for a long moment what to do, he set about making a space for his tent, rooting around in the sand for rocks and sticks, and tossing them aside. When Black returned, with arm fulls of driftwood, Severus had just about made the perfect spot for his tent, carefully leveling out the surface and trying to decide how to make himself a bed for the night.

"You are so fussy," Black told him as he dropped his armload of driftwood. "So fussy it's insane."

Severus rolled his eyes. "I lived in a drafty dungeon most of my life and I reserve the right to have a comfortable afterlife wherever possible."

"Yeah, well, you're doing it the hard way," Black told him and with a gesture, skimmed the surface of Severus's sandy platform perfectly level. "I think you were just playing the sand," he added with an annoying grin.

Severus rolled his eyes and tucked away the little bit of joy he had taken in the process. "Not everyone feels the need to use this...whatever you call it – magic, I suppose, all the time."

Black merely rolled his eyes and trooped off, presumably to find more wood. "Do us a favor and dig a pit for the fire?" he ordered.

Severus leveled him a contemptuous glare and went about constructing himself a tent, pointedly turning his back to the man.

He had almost perfected his tent with Black returned with yet more sun bleached firewood and began digging a pit, purposefully flinging sand at Severus.

"Really?" he snapped at the man. "You're an adult, Black. Act like it!"

"You're one to talk," Black replied venomously. "You can't even admit when you enjoy something, like some perpetual teenager desperately trying to show how mature you are. Angsty to the very end, aren't you? _'Nobody understand me, nobody loves me, and nobody has ever felt the way I do! Waaaah!'_ " he mocked.

That struck a nerve in Severus and he responded in a very base manner, launching himself at Black and partaking in an all-out, very physical brawl. It felt good to punch the man in the face and the resulting cry of pain was very satisfying.

It ended in a draw, with Black and Severus retreating to opposite ends of the half-finished pit.

"I hate you," Black informed him angrily, "and if I could, I'd dump you here and now."

Severus smiled at him, all teeth. "I'd positively love it if you could, you pathetic mongrel."

"Funny," Black snarled. "So funny. Ironic that someone who valued blood in life would say such a thing. Your darling mother married a muggle, don't you remember?"

"Oh, I remember," snapped Severus. "Better than you know."

Black growled and gathered up his firewood, marching off and leaving Severus in the dark for the night.

The next morning, he woke to the smell of bacon wafting through his tent. He hadn't smelt that in so long and he got up, thinking of the smell and tastes of breakfasts past, remembering the feeling of golden syrup on his tongue. It was still dark as he peered out of the tent flaps, and the chill of the night sea breeze touched his face. A fire flickered some way off and he suspected that was where the smell originated.

He pulled on his trousers and, after a moment's thought, collapsed his tent into something he could carry in his pocket. Tucking it away, he walked over to the fire, hoping it was Black.

It was, and another figure sat with him, too. Charity Burbage. Severus's heart sank in his chest. Black deliberately turned away from him, but Severus ignored his in favor of his former colleague, who stared at him sadly.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. He had hated what Voldemort had done to Burbage. He had found her annoying, her sweetness cloying and her attempts to draw out some imagined sunny nature in him had been infuriating, but that had never warranted her death to his mind and it had been so gruesome.

She nodded. "And you let him."

"What else was I supposed to do?"

As she opened her mouth, Black rudely interrupted, "Miss, I'm sure you're a nice person, but I'd really rather not deal with that bastard this early, so can you take it elsewhere? I'll save you some breakfast if you do."

Burbage nodded at him, a little morose as she got up and walked away from the fire, taking a little bit of it with her to light their way into the predawn morning. It clung to her fingers and dripped onto the sand, leaving a trail of dancing fire behind them. Like bread crumbs, Severus thought, thinking of an old tale his muggle grandmother had told him once upon a time.

Burbage stopped and turned to face him, letting the fire drift off her hand without looking at it. It formed an orb that hovered above them, the yellow and orange light flickering over their skin.

"You let him," she stated softly again, meeting his eyes with a sad and level gaze.

He nodded. "There wasn't anything else I could do," Severus admitted. "To help you escape would have resulted in my death and I had so much to do yet."

"So did I," Burbage told him. "I had a fight, too, and you let him take that away from me. I could have helped. And who says he would have thought of you first?" she added.

"The Dark Lord was irrational toward the end and I was associated with you through the school. It's very possible he would have pinned me with the blame even if you had escaped without my help," Severus told her quietly.

Burbage sat down on the sand and stared at him, silent for a long moment. "Tell me what happened after I died."

And so Severus recounted the long, sad story of the end of the second Voldemort war as honestly as he could. He felt he owed her that.


End file.
